Living well in the urban village

Josey Baker Pocketbreads

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Easter! We’ve had a lovely break, and I’ve spent most of it baking, so there is a string of bread posts to follow!

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I’ve realised that the main reason I buy cookbooks these days is not for the recipes.

After all, I have a stack of cookbooks with more recipes in them than I could ever make. Instead, I now buy them – usually in ebook format – because I like the author, and want to support what they’re doing. It’s the fifty year old’s equivalent of buying a band t-shirt and an album at a live gig.

That was the case with this book by Josey Baker, whose surname actually is Baker, and who started his mad bread baking journey only a few years ago. If I lived in San Francisco, I’d drive over and buy a loaf from his bakery, but as I don’t, picking up his ebook from Amazon for $10 feels like the next best thing.

Josey’s book is chatty and full of photos. It’s written as a series of lessons – starting from a basic yeasted loaf, all the way up to elegant sourdoughs that take days to make. For me, there are recipes to attempt as they’re written (like the gluten-free Adventure bread, although finding gf oats here can be tricky), and yet others to take inspiration from and adapt to my own lazy way of baking.

As an e-book, it reads well on the iPad, and all the recipes and chapters are hyperlinked, making navigation pretty easy. The font size varies a bit, but that’s a minor issue, and there are plenty of step by step photos on shaping and dough handling.

I liked Josey’s idea of baking balls of filled dough in muffin tins to make what he calls “pocketbreads”. I adapted his B(L)T recipe and stuffed my latest batch of sourdough with sundried tomatoes and crispy bacon, but you could use whatever bread dough you have on hand. Here’s my recipe…

300g active sourdough starter (fed at a ratio of one cup water to one cup flour)

1. Mix all the ingredients together (except the cornmeal) in a large mixing bowl, squelching them together until well combined. Scrape off your fingers, cover the bowl and allow to rest for half an hour.

2. Uncover and knead briefly in the bowl for a minute, then cover again and allow to prove until doubled in size.

3. Turn the risen dough onto a lightly oiled bench and give it a few folds. Using scales, divide the dough into 18 x 110g pieces (some might be a bit larger). Shape each piece of dough into a tight ball, then roll each ball in cornmeal.

4. Line 18 holes of muffin pans with paper liners, and spray each liner with oil (I forgot to, and had to cut bits of paper off my finished pocketbreads). If your muffin tins are in better condition than mine, you could just spray them directly with oil. Place each cornmeal-coated ball into a hole, cover (I used the lids from my cake carriers), and allow to prove a second time.

5. Preheat oven to 240C with fan. Once the rolls have risen, slash a cross into the top of each one and spritz the tops with water. Place the muffin tins in the oven, reducing the temperature to 220C with fan at the same time. Bake for 15 minutes, then shuffle the trays around, reduce heat to 175C with fan, and bake for a further 15 minutes more, or until well browned. Allow to cool before scoffing.

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These are seriously cute – like little Alice in Wonderland loaves – and a bit too easy to eat. The muffin pans work well, providing an easier option than shaping individual rolls, and the cornmeal coating gives the crust an appealing crispiness (and allows for pleasing alliteration).

The magazine has superb photos, interviews with artisan bakers, tips on how to improve your loaves, breads from all over the world, and more. Every time I read it, I find myself rushing into the kitchen to bake!

Tandy, I buy most of my cookbooks on my iPad now – both for price and environmental reasons. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I know what to look out for now (hyperlink and scrolling options are biggies – no point having a 500 page cookbook if you can’t easily find the recipe on page 265). Hope you’re having a great hols! :)

These certainly look like great lunchbox fillers for sure Celia- yummo! You can now buy GF oats art all the major supermarkets, just be prepared to pay a fortune :) Glad you had a nice break sweetie xox

Oh!! I was just contemplating to get this book or not the other day. Do you like it?
I didn’t know abt Josey Baker when I was in SF altho I’m aware of $4 toast hype in the Mill. But I’m sure I can’t drag Victor to go there he will whine ‘all the way here to eat toast that costs $4?!’ ( he whined on long queue at Tartine Bakery) >_<""
I read an article about SF sourdough bread test held by Serious eats, his sourdough is rated second best after Tartine's which made me curious. I like the flavor of Tartine's like other SF sourdough they are very sour compare to Sydney. My only issue with Tartine is their crust often to burnt, like bitter coal taste.
The picture look awesome tho, hmmm….shall I get it?

Di, get it on Kindle and read it on your iPad. It’s a US$10 purchase then, rather than probably three times that amount when you add in Amazon shipping! I like the book a lot, but as I said, after watching his video clip, I was keen to support his efforts. I have to admire a guy who jumps naked into rivers (both in real life, and proverbially!). :D

Thanks for the video, My dream, if I were just ten years younger. From my experience, baker’s hours and the physical labour are hard on an aging body. I too have way more cook/baking books than I could ever cook through. I think my friends use them more than me. Looking forward to the bread posts.

Liz, I have huge admiration for artisan bakers and their quest to make the perfect loaf. I think that’s what keeps them going when they have to bake the same bread each day. I just want to keep making really good bread for the family to eat, but my aim is usually to do it as simply as possible and in as sustainable way as my body will allow as it gets older (so less kneading, more waiting). Baking under a cast iron pot as Josey suggests produces a magnificent loaf, but I’m past the point where I can manoeuvre a flaming hot heavy pan into position! :)

Thanks for your blog. I would love to know how Josey started his bread adventure. I am over 60 and have enrolled to do a certificate 3 Baking combined course at Tafe – I did certificate 2 last year but it was just a short 6 week course – enough to get me hooked. My dream is to bake sourdough (my starter is over 12 months old now) by sharing oven space (eg in a restaurant when they have closed for the night) and baking for a few cafes. I hope I am not too old – I dont feel I am so watch this space…

Lovely photos and those little breads look far too easy to eat! I know exactly what you mean about buying cookbooks, and I bought one the other day on Kindle to read for similar reasons, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I like to support women writers in particular as I feel that the men, for some reason, whenever they move into a field of endeavour, seem to get more of the glory, and baking is no exception to that. Anyway I am looking forward to all your new bread posts! Squee! xx (This is the one I bought by Mary-Anne Boermans – I love all her stories that accompany the recipes http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-British-Bakes-Forgotten-treasures-ebook/dp/B00GDFVV3G/ref=tmm_kin_title_0)

Sounds and looks like a great book Celia…I do love a bread book! Those pocketbreads look delicious, I have not seen bread cooked like that before. I bet the bacon made them smell good while they were cooking. Sounds like you had a great Easter/baking break! x

This is pretty much the recipe I’ve been using ever since Bart arrived, Celia, and I’ve been very happy with it. Now, though, you’ve gone and added bacon to the dough. You know I just have to make this one day soon. Fresh bread that smells of bacon. How can I resist? :)

I only buy ebooks nowadays, cookery books included. Even bought ebook versions of hardbacks that I already own! So much easier to read and use. Love the look of your darling little breads. Yum! And welcome back. :)

Yum. We’ve finally made our house move (not the most fun you can have on a long weekend) and I’m starting to imagine that I will be organised enough to start cooking – and learning bread is high on the list. These look brilliant for the kids lunch boxes – do you think that they would freeze well? (Not a baking expert). And hope you had a marvellous Easter – glad the weather turned it on for Sydney!

Congratulations on the big move! I think for lunchboxes these would work well in a basic yeasted dough – they’d be a bit softer that way when they come out of the freezer. The sourdough can be toothsome! :)

Hi Celia,
you are so right about the cook books being the new band t-shirts. I really liked Josey video and his passion is infectious.
So speaking of collecting band t-shirts, when can I get yours??
cheers
Jason

Hi Celia, welcome back and good to hear you had a nice break. I love your instructions to cool before scoffing, had a laugh as I often burn myself as I can never wait!! Muffin size is very cute although I think I’d eat several in a sitting, no self control!:)

Stefanie, I often include that, because the bread really isn’t as good when it’s still hot, despite how romantic the idea of eating it straight out of the oven is! And you’re right – they were very cute, but I ate two in one hit. :D

I am also quite fond of the Kindle format and have been buying my share of cookbooks this way. For some strange reason the recipes read on the Kindle do not stick in my memory as easily as with a paper book, but I don’t mind.

I am going to investigate this bread book, which we both know what it means: 99% chance I’m gonna get it! ;-)

Like the idea of those pocket breads. I enjoyed the twitter links to all those videos and was particularly taken with Josey’s setting up one, so understand why you wanted to support him. May just have to click on some of your links …

Hi Celia!
I love your recommendations for books- and isn’t that the best way to walk into any new adventure? With someone you trust making the recommendation?
Any way – welcome back- and looking forward to all your bread posts to come!

I hope you’ve had a lovely break, Celia. I too, have more cookbooks containing more recipes than I’ll ever be able to cook; yet I keep buying them. This is a lovely recommendation for yet another purchase. I love how you describe the writing style of the book and the bread looks great with the polenta crust xx

Thanks Charlie! I’ve discovered that the best e-cookbooks are the ones that have been published recently, rather than those that have been converted from an existing print format. The newer ones have much better formatting and navigation tools in place!

That looks like another very tasty way of using my sourdough starter. And another reason I need to work out more often! You are such an enabler Celia. I love coming to see what you are cooking but I always go away hungry :)
I have been using ‘hard copy’ cookery books but your reasons for e books are so good I will try one.

Welcome back, hope you had a wonderful and restful break.
Love the pocketbreads idea. I would most likely make additional for my freezer. With the gardening season getting into full swing soon (I hope) One or 2 of those pocketbreads and some veggies from the garden, easy and satisfying (did I mention no sweat) meal in no time.

I’d really love to expand my bread making repertoire. French bread seems to be all that I make – it does disappear quickly though. Oh wait, my cinnamon rolls I guess are considered bread too & those are gone as they come out of the oven. Nothing like baked goods fresh out of the oven.

The wonderful thing about these delicious pocket sized little delights is that you can fill them with all different kinds of things and make customised rolls for everyone in one batch. Cheers for the excellent share Celia :)

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